Coast Guard Secures Korean Vessel in Pagudpud Against Oil Seepage

Laoag City (18 October) – The Philippine Coast Guard has sent a team to Barangay Balaoi in Pagudpud town to secure an abandoned Korean vessel against possible oil seepage as storm Juan continues to pound Ilocos Norte.

Capt. George Ursabia, district commander of PCG in Northern Luzon, said they have strengthened the vessel?s mooring line to make it stable and prevent it from dragging along Pagudpud?s shoreline in case of strong winds.

“We have secured the vessel and it is now properly sitting along the shoreline,” Ursabia said in a telephone interview.

He said the PCG immediately dispatched a team to Pagudpud over the weekend to secure the vessel as a pre-emptive action to typhoon Juan.

The MV Nam Yang 8 cargo vessel is carrying at lest 100,000 liters of bunker fuel in its main tank.

Coast Guard personnel inspected the vessel last week and found that the bunker fuel remained in tact.

Ursabia said strong winds may cause the vessel to move and, in the process, may cause the ship?s bottom to be ripped resulting in possible oil leak.

The PCG has planned to immediately siphon the remaining oil from the vessel after the storm moves out of the country to prevent any environmental threat in the area.

The vessel has been marooned in the shores of barangay Balaoi in Pagudpud since January after it developed engine trouble.

Philippine authorities seized the vessel after the vessel’s crew abandoned the ship in June due to irregularities in its documents.